Homeschool Prep

Finally getting off my butt and started gathering the supplies for the upcoming homeschool year. Yesterday the kids history textbook was delivered, and on Monday I received an email telling me Ethan's science curriculum had been shipped. This morning (I've been up since 3:30am) I finally signed the kids up for their math curriculum on Time4Learning.com.

Feeling kind of accomplished, even though there are a few more things I need to get around to ordering.

 This year, I'll have three kids at home; Ryan thought about it for a bit, but ultimately decided to stay in public school. Jeff is officially Kindergarten age, Vanessa will be a 4th grader, and Ethan is now a middle-schooler. Things should be interesting.

In the meantime, I better get back to getting things together.

me + dog = HAPPY!

About three weeks ago, a friend posted a picture of her dog on Facebook. She commented that she was looking to simplify her life and therefore needed to find her dog a good family and home to go to. I've always wanted a small dog for myself, as we got a Beagle for the Crack Monkeys; in fact, I had my heart set on getting a black Pug. But once I set eyes on my friend's dog, I knew I wanted him.

So, introducing.............Browny!

Isn't he the cutest?

He's a two year old Shih Tzu dog and he is the best dog ever! He wasn't fully housetrained, but since we got him, we've been working on it and he's doing really well! He's also become my little buddy; he follows me everywhere and he loves to cuddle with me! And, he always seems to know when I'm feeling down; he'll come and curl up next to me after giving me a few "kisses."


And, he's so good with the Crack Monkeys! I'll admit they manhandle him sometimes, but he never nips or growls at them. They love him to pieces and he enjoys being around them; I couldn't have asked for a better companion!

I love "fuzz therapy"!

The banner

So I'm looking at the banner for this blog, and I'm only now realizing that I need to update the pictures. My kids have grown in height these last few years (my oldest has now surpassed me, with my second oldest close behind!).

The only problem is that the program I used to make the banner is no longer on our computer and I can't find the disc.

D'oh.

Maybe a new format is needed anyway....maybe.

I'll figure something out.

Madrid, Spain

Scott is off and out of the country again; this morning he started his journey to Madrid, Spain. He’ll be gone for eight days, which isn’t bad, but after two months of no traveling, it’s somewhat of an adjustment.

So far, the Crack Monkeys are behaving as they usually do, but I know that once this week stretches on, I’ll probably be playing referee or police officer sooner rather than later. Jeff has already called dibs on Scott’s side of the bed….so Mom won’t feel lonely tonight when it’s time for bed, of course.

Of course.

It’s been somewhat of a busy day, so I don’t think I’ve comprehended yet that Scott is gone. There was piano lessons, and Activity Days to keep me occupied, and I even cooked dinner. I think the Crack Monkeys were a little stunned when I announced dinner was ready; I usually order out when Scott travels, but my couponing stockpile is staring me in the face, so why not?

I really hope these eight days fly by.

Lacrosse

I've never been much of a sports fan, not even when I was a cheerleader during my junior year of high school. It never really interested me much, and it wasn't a big deal.

Until I met Scott and started having kids.

Scott played soccer growing up, and he's always a lifelong, die-hard Pittsburgh Steelers fan. When Ryan was born, he passed on his love of sports to him. From the time Ryan could walk, he's loved sports: basketball, soccer, football, you name it, it fascinated him. When he was old enough to play, we had him playing soccer and flag football for the recreational league where we live. But, it wasn't until this past fall that Ryan finally found his passion.

Lacrosse.

I had never heard of lacrosse, but it's a Native American game that's been around for a long time. Ryan has been enthusiastic about other sports before, but his whole demeanor changes when he talks about lacrosse: his face lights up, there's a goofy smile on his face, and his voice takes on a sort of reverence when he speaks about it. It's amusing and impressive at the same time.

He's come a long way since that first season last fall, and now he's playing for a competitive team here in Utah. He's always had great coordination, but when I watch him play lacrosse I am so blown away by his skills.

I think he's found his sport. And, it makes me, as a mom, really proud that he's found something he's so passionate about.

Can't catch a break

Over the weekend, I had two Crack Monkeys sick with some sort of stomach bug. My oldest woke up Sunday morning at 4am and immediately threw up, followed by the Princess. I tell ya, there's nothing like cleaning up vomit a four in the morning, while running on four hours of sleep.

Spent most of Sunday cleaning up messes and tending to sick kids, who finally stopped throwing up by evening. So by that night, I was (naturally) exhausted, thinking the worst of it was over.

Not.

When I woke up this morning to wake up Ethan for school, I was greeted by an overwhelming aroma of poop in the hallway. Apparently, our dog decided he didn't want to be left out, so he made a mess in his cage. And, when I say in his cage, naturally, I mean in his cage and the area surrounding it.

My poor hardwood floor.

While Ethan ate breakfast, Scott and I cleaned up. He took the cage outside to shoot it down (and the dog) with the hose, while I was the lucky one to clean up the poop off the floor.

Lucky me. /sarcasm

I was indifferent before, but right now, at this moment, I hate Mondays!

Bleh.

Spring Plans

I've always wanted to have a garden. When Scott and I began our hunt for the perfect home for us, a small garden filled with lots of yummy veggies was part of that vision.

Sadly, I've not been blessed with a green thumb. My grandmother could make anything grow, and she did it beautifully, but she didn't pass that talent onto me.

I have a Black Thumb of Death.

The Crack Monkeys laugh when I tell them that, but it's true. I can plant something, have it grow for maybe a week or so after sprouting, and then, despite all of my efforts, the plant dies. I don't know what happens, but I've never had a plant thrive under my care.

And, every year, when Spring rolls around, I promise myself that I will try again. But, I never do. It's part fear, but mostly laziness. Plus, I'm just clueless.

Not this year.

I've been scouring the internet for tips and ideas, and I think I've finally found something that just might work: container gardening. Instead of having a raised garden bed, I can have plastic containers (or pots) in my backyard, on a table so the dog can't get to them.

Genius!

My excitement was enough to load the Fire Pig and Princess into the car and make a run to Target. I was planning on just buying the packets of seeds and waiting until the weather warms up, but I found this little treasure:

Brand new kit fro Target

Can you guess how excited I got? Excited enough to buy it, come home and get started, ha. I'm probably off on the timing, but I figure by the time they (hopefully) start sprouting, the weather will be warm enough to put them in pots.

This is what comes in the kit

You add warm water to the dirt pellets and they start to expand

Here's a picture of the dirt pellets expanded and not looking like dog poo,  lol.

The seeds are all planted and marked and the germination sheet in place 

I carefully followed all of the instructions, so hopefully something good will happen. I would love to not have to run to the store for fresh produce, so here's praying that this first step in gardening works!

Being sick

The last week or so, I was downing Zicam in hopes of not getting sick because let's face it: when Mama gets sick, the world just about ends. ;-)

But, the Zicam, Emergen-C and orange juice cocktail I had going failed; I woke up Monday morning with a full-blown cold. Ugh. Special thanks to my hubby and oldest child for "sharing" with me.

And, I get that everyone gets sick once in awhile, and for the most part we have to suck it up and ride it through. But, I'm going to be honest: it really sucks when it's Mama who gets sick because there's no one to take care of me.

When my hubby or kids get sick, I'm waiting on them hand and foot, getting them soup or OJ, or even more tissues to wipe their snot as they swallow medicine. Sometimes, I don't even wait for them to ask for something; I'll bring it to them because I know they need it.

I love taking care of them, really i do. It's my job; it's the territory that comes with being a wife and parent. And, I love them all to death.

But, when I'm sick? The hubby has to go to work (why am I always sick when he has tons of meetings scheduled?), the kids go to school, which means I have to get my own damn soup....after I cook it, of course.

So not fair!

So, for today and probably tomorrow, I don't wanna be Mommy anymore; I just want to be a poor, pathetic sickie-head that needs someone to pity me and feed me soup, OJ and medicine. Any takers?

*Sigh* I didn't think so.

Homeschooling

Even before Big Poppa and I started our family, I knew I wanted to homeschool. Just the thought of being able to teach my kids in fun ways has always been enticing to me. So when Mr. All-Star was old enough for Kindergarten (he’s in the 7^th grade now), I decided to give it a go.

Truth be told, there wasn’t much “school” as there was fun and goofing off. We dabbled in learning the alphabet and counting to ten, and we worked on writing his name, but other than that, our days mostly consisted of watching Disney shows (Bear In the Big Blue House) and playing with the gazillion toys in the playroom. I did worry that he wasn’t learning what he was “supposed to”, but for the most part, we had fun.

I did send Mr. All-Star to 1^st grade because by then, Mr. Awesome was ready for school and I was battling with (undiagnosed) depression and anxiety, so I wasn’t able to continue with homeschool.

This year, I decided to pull the Princess from school after she failed to thrive due to some bullying. We struggled at first with finding our “groove” but, we’ve found it. She’s doing well and really grasping the concepts that she failed to understand in school, and her interests in other things have taken off. She’s also a big help with encouraging the Fire Pig in learning the alphabet and numbers, and they really enjoy doing school together.

With Mr. Awesome approaching middle school next year, I’ve been worrying. At the moment, he’s enrolled in a special class that caters to kids like him (Autism Spectrum, learning disabilities, etc.), and it’s a really small class (I think they have 12 kids right now). He spends all day with his amazing teachers, learning a modified curriculum of his grade level, goes to speech therapy, and sees the school psychiatrist for group sessions on social behaviors. It’s structured and designed to help him.

However, in talking with one of his teachers during a recent parent-teacher conference, the designated middle school that he’ll be enrolled in does not provide him with that. The only thing remotely close to it will be a homeroom at the beginning of the school day with other students like him, and then he’s off mainstream classes.

7 different classes, 7 different teachers, 20-25 other students in each class.

Sorry, that’s not going to work. Mr. Awesome has Aspergers, and that kind of environment isn’t ideal. And, I’m worried that he’ll slip back into his behaviors before we got him into the EXCEL program (hysterical tantrums, throwing desks and chairs, etc.).

So after months and months of talking with Big Poppa, and equal amounts (if not more) of prayer, we’ve decided we’re going to homeschool Mr. Awesome. When we broached the subject with him a few weeks back, he didn’t seem very interested. However, when he was sick from school last week and saw what the Princess and Fire Pig were doing, his curiosity was peaked. And, it led us to a long, open conversation about homeschool, the pros and cons, and the different things we can do to create the “perfect” curriculum for him.

As it stands, he’s now all for it. Since that day, he’s constantly reminding me to research online curriculums and he’s been leaving me lists of things he’s interested in to see if we can incorporate them into his curriculum.

The Princess and Fire Pig are excited that he’ll be home with them, and have been telling him all about the things we’ve been doing (field trips to Krispy Kreme, library days, kids museum). I think they’ve got him sold on the idea.

Now, if I can only choose his curriculum; there are so many fun ones out there!

Winter Blues

Anyone with any type of depression can tell you that the weather plays a part (whether big or small) in your daily moods. I joke that I have the odds stacked against me since being diagnosed with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), another type of depression in addition to my major depression. And, judging by the weather lately, the universe hates me.

Here in Utah, we’ve been hit with several snowstorms, which is a change from last year’s non-winter. I love the snow, but I hate the inversion that usually accompanies it. Not only does it make my kids miserable, but it messes with my depression and anxiety.

I don’t do well during the winter, despite having my medication. It helps, but I seem to have more bad days than good ones during the winter. The road to finding the medication that works for me seems endless and frustrating, but I am determined; I don’t enjoy feeling low, even on a good day.

Does that make sense?

The forecast for the rest of the week calls for another snowstorm, then sunshine with the cold; I think I’m ready for spring.

So ready.

Woe is me

The last two weeks have been hell...I apologize in advance for using the "h-word" as my youngest calls it, but, it has literally been hell for me.

The funny thing is, it's not because of anyone like family of even the Crack Monkeys driving me insane. No, I've been in literal agony because of me.

It started when Big Poppa and I decided to take the kids sledding. There's another park tucked away in the corner of our neighborhood that has some slopes. It's not steep or high, but it does make for a short and fast ride. We were hit with a good amount of snow, so we thought it was a great opportunity for some sledding fun.

I kind of regret it now.

Not the part where I was able to spend some quality time with my husband and kids, laughing and getting snow thrown in our faces, no. I regret that my kids convinced me to go down a part of the slope that someone had made a ramp on, sitting on a thin piece of material someone called a sled, and landed hard on my backside.

Also, it didn't help that hubby thought I'd enjoy a super fast ride so he pushed me -hard- when it was my turn again. I ended up flying off my sled and landing hard on my shoulder, which hurt like a mother-scratcher for the next several days.

But, the fun didn't end there, nope.

I ended up sledding again with the girls in my Activity Days group, and not learning my lesson, went sledding again.

I've come to the conclusion that my body is too old for that kind of fun.

Moving on: once my arm stopped hurting, the panic attacks started. Normally, I can tell when one is coming on. This one? Not so much. It actually hit me during Sacrament Meeting in church. The shakes, the rocking, the hyperventilating, everything. Luckily, Big Poppa noticed and took me home.

Anyone who suffers from anxiety/panic attacks knows that they're not fun nor good. But, what I really hate is that afterwards, it leaves me exhausted. Mentally and physically. Which opens the doors for depression to creep in which is another unwelcome guest one does not want.

So, with that going on, I got hit with a bout of vertigo. As if I'm not already having fun, I guess. I'm sure people know what that is, but in case you're wondering, vertigo is when you have no equilibrium and you feel like the world (or room) is constantly spinning.

That went on for three days.

Three.

Can you just feel the excitement I've been feeling?

Yeah, sarcasm. Sorry.

Anyway, that passed and it became migraine's turn to harass me. Which is unfortunate because my house does not cater to migraine sufferers, what with it's windows everywhere. Normally, I would go downstairs to our theater room in the basement, but that's currently being used as storage. And I can't find my sleep mask anywhere, so I've been suffering for the last two days.

Yes, I know. Wah, wah, wah. I sound like such a brat. It's been hard for me, really. But, I'm not totally ungrateful. Big Poppa has really stepped up and taken care of things while I've been out of commission: he's cooked and cleaned, and even got the Crack Monkeys to stay on task with their chores and homework. It really makes me appreciate having such a willing and sympathetic partner to tag team with. I really don't think I could do this by myself.

I don't want to do this by myself.

So, here's to hoping this agony is now at an end. There's way too much stuff to catch up on now, and I've been missing my cuddle time with the Fire Pig. That is, if he's still willing to cuddle with me, ha.

Resolutions

So like many of you, the days between Christmas and New Year' have probably been busy. I know it's been hard around here to get back to "normal"; the Crack Monkeys were just to comfortable with not having to get up early and go to school, I guess. But, we're finally getting back into the swing of things, I think.

It makes me laugh that the start of a new year encourages us to set goals and resolutions to improve, but at the same time, it forces us to return to our regularly scheduled programs (lives) after weeks of being in a celebratory mood.

Yes, I went there.

Resolutions.

Do you set them every year? Is your list long? Short? I only ask because I've always been one to set resolutions during the first day of the brand spanking year, as if it was my duty. The only problem was that I usually set the deadline for the end of the year, and by February, I'd be off the wagon.

It's fun setting goals and thinking about accomplishing them. Sadly, however, I'm one of those people that lose interest once the going gets tough or my goal loses its glitter.

Pathetic, I know.

However, I think I've come up with a way that'll make me stick to my goals this year: monthly goals.

It's so simple, I feel like an idiot. I applaud all you smart people who've already figured this out.

The plan: every month I'll set one or two goals to accomplish. During said month, that'll be the only thing I'll work on. The only rule I've set is that it has to be a realistic goal; for example, this moth's goals are to lose 4 lbs. and write a single chapter for my novel that I've been working on.

And, you know what? It's only the 10th of January and I'm already down 3 lbs. and that single chapter I've been working on is now 12 pages long.

Yes, I'm patting myself on the back.

I don't know why I haven't thought of this before, but I have realized that this takes a lot of change in mentality to do this...well, for me anyway. I feel good about this, but, I guess I'll just have to play the waiting game to see if it sticks.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

Just wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a Happy new Year!

It's my year, the Year of the Snake!

Kind of excited about that, ha!

2012 was a good year, but I'm looking forward to 2013.

Wishing all of you a great 2013!